Tag Archives: Women

Let me back up to explain what I’m talking about. Shooter 1.0 is the generation of people who grew up with guns as just part of their every day lives. They grew up learning the traditions of shooting, and of hunting, and of gun safety and it was never a mystery to them.
Shooter 2.0 is the non-traditional group of new shooters who had no background of firearms, but took up an interest from movies, tv, and video games and wanted to try them out in real life. Shooter 2.0 comes from a diverse demographic background, but are usually younger, enthusiastic, technology savvy, and are willing to learn everything they can about firearms. They don’t look like Shooter 1.0’s typically… because Shooter 2.0 may have Tats, Piercings… and do not look like or dress like they came from that Conservative Upbringing that 1.0’s came from.

Shooter 3.0 is a bit different. They are primarily people who are waking up to the realization that the Second Amendment applies to them. They are primarily women, and primarily Women of Color. Black, Asian, Indian, and Latino Women are the bulk of Shooter 3.0, with Black Women being the largest segment of this group. Shooter 3.0 often comes to the table with no background in Firearms Knowledge from any source or media… But they know that they have the RIGHT to learn. And that’s a BEAUTIFUL thing!

For the last couple of years I’ve been the guy manning the booths at public events and being that ambassador to the Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade. We see a lot of people walking by. Having a Booth for a Gun Range at these public events has been an education.

Shooter 1.0 guys tend to ignore us almost completely. They are “Too Cool For School”. They will walk past, keeping their heads forward, but eyeballing us as hard as they can rotate their eyeballs in their skulls. Once in awhile, they will ask us for some information “For their friend”.

Shooter 2.0 guys will ask us about what guns we carry in stock, and will ask about tactical training opportunities… and they will often bring their boy friends or girlfriends who are not yet comfortable. Their Safe Word is “Breakfree”. We get a few of the 2.0 people a day at whatever location we are all.

Shooter 3.0’s are the ones who walk straight up to our booth, they smile, they ask good questions about all the learning opportunities, and it’s the Shooter 3.0’s that are signing up for the classes. Because. They. Can. They are proud to embrace the rights that they have been told is for Other People. Guns are a Man’s Thing. Or Guns are for Rednecks. And they now know that a RIGHT in America is for All Americans. And here’s the great thing about the Shooter 3.0 Crowd… 3.0’s actually Listen. They drink in the FREEDOM like a dehydrated guy crawling in from the desert drinks in water. The 2nd Amendment is for them too. Self Defense is a Human Right. And we WELCOME them into the Freedom Lifestyle.

The black women as a group are also the ones having the most fun with all of this. We’re seeing them coming into the range with their friends more and more often… when only a few years ago we’d almost never see any. They are having a blast! The Freedom Lifestyle welcomes everyone. When you are at the range – there is no Hate, there is no Racism… You find that at Liberal Arts Colleges.

Unfortunately there is some Sexism. You find that in some of the Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade Marketing and in some of the SHOT Industry Vendors… Looking at you EAA, specifically, and a lot of others generally… Can we NOT actively try to alienate the whole new customer base that is keeping the industry rolling? Just asking.

On Facebook yesterday, a lovely young girl posted a picture of herself shooting an AR-15 .22. She was proud of herself for getting out there and shooting. I think her name was Kelly. Pretty girl. Cool rifle. (An M&P15-22)
And being a Novice Shooter, she held the rifle in the classic New Gun Girl Stance. Meaning her cheek weld was directly above the rifle butt. I’d post the picture but she pulled it down.

Why did she pull it down?

Was it her Liberal Friends who were giving her hell because she was shooting a gun?

Nope. It was from Shooters who Dog Piled on her for her posture. And it was a dog pile… Every experienced shooter felt the need to point out how wrong she was. This was patently unnecessary. This is not how we encourage new shooters to come back and pick the rifle back up and try again. Why would she? Why would she chose to associate with “Real Shooters” who acted like a bunch of Pricks? This is now how we Recruit for our Team.

Some of these same Guys commented on another photo that hit Facebook. A Woman with very large breasts, shirtless and rubbed down with oil, covering her nipples with a pair of handguns, fingers on triggers, pointing the guns into her breasts with an expression that she’s Mid-Climax. All the guys comments were about how hot she was and not about the blatant Violations of Safety, which were pretty much 3 out of the 4.

Yet Kelly was piled on for just Bad Form? What the hell is this? It’s all okay if you show us your Tits? Come on Guys! I’ve no problem with a little Cheese Cake myself, but when you mix in Firearms we have to Throttle Back on the Inner Pig and take things just a little more seriously. I’ve been known to post some Girl with Gun pictures myself. But none Vulgar and none showing Firearms Safety Negligence.

What Message is this sending to new female shooters? Daughters of my Friends? We can’t let there be any double standards on this. We need to treat all new shooters… Especially the Girls… with the utmost respect. We want to grow and fill our ranks of proud Second Amendment Supporters, not chase them away. I know this was happening on Facebook, but Facebook is freaking huge. More people use it than Google. So we can either make FB our Tool, or it can be used against us. We gotta watch what we say. People are watching.

Evil Jim and I were joking about our Top Five’s on Facebook. I said that Christina Hendricks was my #3. We joked about them, and then I decided to go ahead and do a Top Five list. Now, these may not be the most beautiful women in the world… but they just do it for me. I’ll watch them in any movie.

1. Jennifer Connelly. I fell in love with her way back when the movie “Labyrinth” came out.
2. Tabrett Bethell. Her character “Cara” in “The Legend of the Seeker”.
3. Christina Hendricks. “Yosafbridge” from Firefly. Mad Men. Redheaded, full figured, no appologies. The phrase “Special Hell” pretty much defines her.
4. Jennifer Love Hewitt. Soft and feminine, but with a strong character. Just watch Ghost Whisperer.
5. Monica Bellucci. The goddess from Italy. Need I say more?

Wife gets ready for Church today… a new outfit. She asks “How do I look?”

I made a huge mistake… “Fine.”

Guys… never use the word “fine” to a woman. She gave me a glare and disappeared. She changed her skirt, late to church… all because I used the F-Word. It’s an okay word to use with the fellas. Guys don’t care. Fine is fine… but to a woman… Oh my hell. Never use the F-word to a woman.